Electronic mail (e-mail) has recently become one of the most commonly used communication tool in business. As more and more homes are connected to the Internet, it could become an important communication tool for homes also.
In the simplest case, electronic mail is the delivery of text-based messages from a sending computer to one or more recipient computers. The sending and recipient computers are connected to a data network. Typically, the message is temporarily stored in a server of the data network. The recipient computers (users) can retrieve the stored messages at their convenience.
Many users find that sending e-mails is more convenient than sending letters. The user can type a few lines on a computer, enter a simple e-mail address, press a button, and the message is sent. There is no need to print out the message, put it in an envelope, write a long address, and deliver the letter to a mail-box. This is especially important when the user is traveling because he/she may not have access to printers, envelopes, stamps, and mail-boxes. Because of the convenience, people tend to write a lot of e-mails, which promote communication. The increased communication improves efficiency, which tends to have a positive effect on profitability of a company.
Although many companies recognize the benefits of e-mails, some of them have installed e-mail systems only recently. This is because e-mail systems in the past were proprietary systems. Messages can only be delivered in such systems if the senders and recipients use the same proprietary system. The proprietary nature of these e-mail systems means that each system can only be accessed by persons associated with the same organization (such as a company or an on-line service provider). It is very difficult to send messages to an intended recipient outside of the system. Thus, a message can only reach a relatively small number of computers (i.e., users). Unless the company has many employees, the costs of setting up an e-mail system may be much higher than the anticipated benefits.
More recently, many companies and homes have been connected to the Internet, which is a world-wide open data network connecting tens of millions of computers. One of the reasons for the Internet's popularity is that the cost of accessing the Internet is very low. Another reason is that the Internet offers many resources in addition to e-mails. Each user of the Internet is assigned an e-mail address that is recognizable around the world. A computer connected to the Internet can send e-mails to any one of these e-mail addresses. As a result, it is possible to communicate electronically with many people at any time.
As a result of the popularity and convenience of e-mails, many companies allow their customers to send comments and request information and services using e-mails. Typically, these companies set up one or more specific e-mail addresses for these purposes. These mails arc typically answered on a first come first serve basis.
It has been found that many of these mails are lost or unanswered. There are many reasons for this problem. One reason is that the person who is supposed to process an e-mail may not be familiar with the subject matter of the e-mail. Thus, this e-mail is left unanswered. One solution is for the person to forward the e-mail to another person who may be more familiar with the subject matter. This increases data traffic and work-load for everyone. Further, there is no guarantee that the intended recipient is available to reply to the e-mail. Consequently, there is a need to have a more efficient system to handle this problem.